The Unexpected II: Past Meets Present
by Dramionefan4life
Summary: The second installment of The Unexpected Series. In this sequel, Draco and Hermione deal with children, former friends, and people from their past. How will they overcome their past coming back into their lives?
1. The Letter

**A.N.: **Alright, here is the sequel to The Unexpected, which I suggest reading first because most of this story won't make sense without it. This story picks up three weeks after the end of it's prequel. In this second installment of The Unexpected Series finds Draco and Hermione dealing with children and people from their past; a past that they would like to leave in the past.

I know I said that I wouldn't post this until I wrote most of this story but due to school and major writer's block, I haven't written as much as I would've liked by now. What all this means for you is that I decided to most what I have now, as I said I'd post about this time, and promise not to make you wait too long before I update.

**I don't own Harry Potter, the characters, nor the settings. The wonderful J.K.R. does. I just use those wonderful characters for my crazy ideas. Thanks to my wonderful beta Apurva for fixing my sometimes bad writing.**

The Unexpected II: Past Meets Present

**Chapter 1: The Letter**

It had been only three weeks since Greg had boarded the Hogwarts Express, but it had been three long weeks since Draco and Hermione had had another living soul in their house, three weeks too long for their taste.

Hermione was anxiously waiting for Draco to get home from work. She had received a letter from Greg earlier that day, after her weekly trip to Diagon Alley; a trip she took every Friday to get whatever supplies she needed as well as a new book. She had decided that she would not open the letter until both her and Draco were there to read it, but, unfortunately for her, that occurrence was taking longer than normal.

_Where in the world is he? It's not like him to be late, especially on a Friday. I hope he didn't get pulled into a meeting; those can sometimes last forever, like that last one about the new building's budget that kept him past 2 a.m. I don't think I can wait that long to see what is in Greg's letter. I wonder what House he is in. Does he like it at Hogwarts? Ugh!_ She knew she wouldn't be able to resist too much longer when it came to opening the envelope, despite waiting all day already. _If he's not here in the next hour, I'm reading it without him. We made no promises to wait until we were both around to open a letter, if one ever arrived from Greg, after all._

Half an hour later, Draco came in through the Floo, finding Hermione waiting impatiently for him on the couch.

"Hello, darling. How was your day?" Draco said, placing a chaste kiss on her lips.

"My day was fine. I got a letter from Greg earlier today, and was waiting until you got home to read it. I was going to give you another half hour until I decided to read it anyway."

"Well, I'm here now, so open it up."

She did just that; it read:

_Dear Mum and Dad,_

_I'm sorry it took me so long to write. I knew my classes would be challenging, but I don't think I was quite expecting so much homework! I know you were hoping for a letter within a week of me getting here, so, again, I'm sorry, and hope you weren't worrying._

_I'm not sure where to really begin, so I guess I'll start from where we parted and go from there._

_I was a little worried when I got on the train because I didn't know anyone and didn't have anyone to sit with. I decided to just find an empty compartment and see who joined me._

_For a while I thought I was going to make the entire trip all by myself, but someone finally came to join me. He said his name was Sebastian Zabini. He told me that he and his family had seen us on the platform, and that his father had recognized you. His father told him that you two had been friends at school; is that true? I hope so, because Sebastian and I have become friends, and it would be great if you and his father had been friends too._

_After Sebastian arrived, it seemed like we were in Hogsmeade within minutes, but, in reality, it was more like several hours. I was a little nervous riding across the lake in the small boats, but Sebastian was with me, so that made it a little better._

_I can't believe how big Hogwarts castle is! It's hard to believe that I will be living here for the next seven years._

_I was getting more nervous as we walked up to the Great Hall. Sebastian was trying to calm me down, telling me that everything would be okay. I couldn't help it, though; the castle was intimidating._

_When we finally reached the Great Hall, the man from earlier that day- the one who yelled at you two about acting like children- was there to take us into the Great Hall to get sorted. The Great Hall is amazing; I've never seen a place like it before._

_It was time for the Sorting to start, and it seemed it would never be my turn. When it finally was, Sebastian had to practically push me because I was so nervous. The Hat seemed a little conflicted about where to place me, saying that I had both Gryffindor and Slytherin qualities in me. Finally, the Hat yelled, "Slytherin!" Everyone from the Slytherin table was clapping and cheering. Sebastian was the last to be sorted, and was also put in Slytherin._

_The Headmistress got up after everyone was seated to make some announcements, like she does every year, apparently. She welcomed everyone, and talked about the rules and such; it was the same stuff that was probably said while you were still in school. Near the end, she said that the old Slytherin Head of House had decided to retire, and that the new one was someone she had convinced to come back after a long absence. Professor Snape is now the Slytherin Head of House and the Potions professor. Do you know him? Some of the older students were saying he hasn't been around since the end of the War. Was he your Head of House, Dad? Did he teach Potions then, too?_

_Speaking of classes, I think I already have some favorites. I really like Potions. Professor Snape is a really good teacher, and I can see that I'm really going to enjoy that class. I also like Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Lupin is really nice and makes learning the spells fun. Unfortunately, we have both those classes with Gryffindor. That Potter boy keeps trying to get me into trouble. It seems that he let what happened on the platform get to him, because he keeps using how you and his parents don't get along as a reason to pick on me. Oh, well. _

_I'm going to go now; this is already really long. I love you both! I promise to write again soon._

_Love,_

_Greg_

"Wow," said Hermione. "Did you know that Blaise had a son?"

Draco took a minute to answer, still processing what had been said in the letter. "No, no, I didn't. But you have to remember, Hermione, I haven't talked to anyone from my past since the War. After I disappeared with Severus, I stopped all contact with everyone I knew, especially after my mother died. Blaise tried to write me, but I just sent the letters back, unopened. Last I knew, he went to France to spend some time in Paris."

"When was the last time you saw Snape?"

"I haven't seen or heard from him since about a year after we got married. He told me that he wanted to go find a quiet little cottage in the woods where he'd never have to be bothered again. He didn't understand that he was the only family I had left. It hurt a lot when I didn't have him around. Imagine what you went through when you left Weasley, and multiply it by ten- that's how bad it was for me. He probably never realized any of that, though; he never realized that I would want to know when, or if, he ever came back.

"I guess it doesn't matter now, though. I have got you, Greg, and another baby on the way."

"Are you alright, Draco?"

"I'll be fine, love."

"Okay. Why don't we go get something to eat? There's a new Italian place I have wanted to try."

"Alright, Italian it is."

They left after Draco changed clothes, leaving the letter behind, promising themselves to reply to it in the morning.

* * *

**A.N.: For those of you were remember, I said in Chapter 4 of ****The Unexpected**** that Snape kept in touch with Draco after the war ended. I forgot that I said this (I know, I'm a horrible author, or at least have a horrible memory sometimes) so I planned differently in this story. I think I fixed it though. I never said that he still talked to Draco to that day, although it might have been implied. So to make this story work, we are just going to go with what I have said in this chapter. Think that Snape only talked to Draco after the war, for a short time, and no one else; that will make it seem as though he completely disappeared after the war.**


	2. The Ghost from the Past

**A.N.: **Sorry forthe long(ish) delay on the chapter. I hit huge writer's block with this chapter so you're imput would be amazing. Due to said block, this chapter is shorter than usual for me. Luckily for all of you, I'm currently on Spring Break and plan to write at least the next chapter, if not more. Enjoy!

**Chapter 2: The Ghost from the Past**

"Good morning!" Hermione said, walking into her room. She had already taken her shower and eaten breakfast and had come to see if her husband was awake yet. Draco was never a morning person, so Hermione wasn't surprised to see him still in bed, although he was awake.

"How can you be so chipper so early on a Monday morning?" He could never understand why she wanted to be awake so early in the morning- he liked his sleep, which is why being self-employed was a good thing; he didn't have to be to work until mid-morning.

"I'm not sure I can explain it; I just like being awake early in the morning, I guess. Are you going to get out of bed anytime soon?"

"What time is it?"

"Time for you to get your lazy arse out of bed!"

"Alright, alright; I'll get out of bed."

"Good." She walked beside the bed, gave him a quick kiss, then went to the door, where she stopped to say, "While you're taking your shower, I'll make breakfast, as I have time this morning and have just woken you up. What would you like?"

"Are you sure you have time? I can always get something on my way to work."

"Yes, I'm sure."

"How about some bacon and eggs?"

"No problem." She closed the door, hearing a muffled thank you from the other side of the door.

* * *

Draco walked into the kitchen half an hour later to find a plate with two eggs, a few pieces of bacon, toast, and a cup of coffee waiting for him. He saw Hermione muttering spells for the dishes to wash, dry, and put themselves away. "This smells delicious," he said, sitting down in front of his breakfast. "Thanks for the food, love."

Just as Hermione was about to reply, a tapping could be heard from the kitchen window. Hermione walked over to the window to let the small barn owl in with the morning's _Daily Prophet_. She took the paper from the owl, giving it a Knut in return. She unfolded the paper to give it a quick look before heading to work, when she saw her worst fear come to life. She managed a hushed, "Oh, Merlin!" before dropping the paper and promptly fainting.

"Hermione!" Draco was out of his chair so fast that it fell over. He slowly scooped up his wife and carried her into the living room, setting her on the couch. "_Enervate."_

Slowly Hermione's eyes opened to see her husband staring down at her. She felt dizzy as she sat up, and decided moving would not be the wisest thing at the moment. She looked up at Draco and saw confusion and concern in his eyes.

"Are you alright? What happened?" he asked.

"I'm fine. I was just shocked by what was on the front page of the paper is all."

"What could shock you so much that you fainted?"

She sighed. "Go get the paper and you'll see for yourself."

Draco did as he was told. Hermione didn't get shocked this easily. He knew that whatever it was, it was bad. One glance at the paper, now in his hand, and he knew exactly what had caused Hermione to faint. There, on the front page, was a picture of someone they both hoped they would never see again.

He walked back into the living room and sat down next to his wife. "Do you want to know what it says?"

She nodded, and he read:

_**Lucius Malfoy Released from Azkaban**_

"_After serving a fifteen-year sentence, Lucius Malfoy has been released from Azkaban Prison. Malfoy was sentenced to fifteen years in Azkaban for his role as a Death Eater in the Second War. Some say Malfoy should have received a life sentence for his role as Lord Voldemort's right hand man, while others say he should have been charged with his wife's untimely death fifteen years ago, despite the fact that no evidence of his involvement was ever found._

"_There is no word yet on how Malfoy's son, Draco Malfoy, is taking his father's release. Sources close to the Malfoy family report that young Malfoy was disinherited soon after the war ended. No concrete reason was ever reported for this change in the elder Malfoy's will, but rumors surrounding the Malfoy family state that young Malfoy was disowned due to his choice in supporting the other side during the war._

"_No one knows if the elder Malfoy will approach Draco Malfoy and his family, but for the sake of both parties, let's hope not."_

"Draco, what if he does show up here? I mean, he was really upset with you after the war. He went as far as having your mother killed. What would he do if he found out you went and married Harry Potter's Mudblood friend? Well, former friend, but he doesn't know that. Draco, I'm scared!"

Draco tried to quiet her down, but she was crying too much at this point. All he could do was hold her and let her cry it out.

_How can I reassure her that everything is going to be okay? For all I know, she has a right to be scared. Who knows how he's going to react if when he finds out I married her? And what about Greg? What will Lucius do if he finds out about Greg? For now, I think Greg is safe; he's at Hogwarts, after all. No one would let Lucius within the grounds; he lost that privilege when he was kicked off the Board of Governors. Yeah, he's safe for now. With any luck Lucius won't find out about his grandchildren._

_Right now I need to figure out how to protect my family; at the moment, my main concern is Hermione._

"I understand that you are scared, love, but make no mistake, I will do everything in my power to protect you and the children. I'm here; there's no need to worry," Draco said, holding Hermione tightly.

**A.N.: review!!!**


	3. The Aftermath

**A.N.: **Sorry for the long delay on the update; school sucks and my beta Apurva has been really busy too. This is a long chapter so I hope it makes up for the previous chapter being really short. Again, I don't own HP, JKR does!

**Chapter 3: The Aftermath**

"Hermione, I'm home." He waited a moment for a response; there was nothing. "Love, where are you?"

"Sorry, I was upstairs and didn't hear you come in," she said, descending the stairs. "How was your day?"

He gave her a chaste kiss when she reached the bottom. "It was alright. I had a lot of owls today from reporters asking about Lucius."

"It seems Lucius is causing everyone problems," she said quietly. Draco looked at her questioningly, silently asking what she meant. "Let's go to the kitchen and I'll explain while heating your dinner."

"Okay…" They walked into the kitchen; Draco walked to the table and summoned a bottle of mead, while Hermione went to get her husband's plate from the fridge and heated it up with a charm. "What happened, Hermione? What has Lucius done now?"

"Lucius did nothing personally," she said setting his plate in front of him and sitting at his side. "The article in the _Daily Prophet_, however, caused a huge fight between Greg and James Potter. I got an…interesting letter from Remus Lupin about it; he wants us to come to a meeting tomorrow morning to talk about Greg. I think he really just wants to yell at us for how our behavior on the platform is the cause of his current behavior."

"It's more Potter's fault all that happened than it is mine. I wouldn't have even talked to him if his son and Greg hadn't run into each other."

"I know. I just wish that none of it had ever happened. Whether it was a direct cause of Greg and James arguing like you and Harry did or not, it still contributed in some way. I don't like what's happening, Draco. We all have enough on our plates with the baby coming, work, and Lucius being released from Azkaban; we don't need to add Greg constantly in trouble into the mix."

"I know, love I know. Listen, we'll go to this meeting with Lupin tomorrow, and I'll have a little talk with our son about staying out of trouble. Okay?"

"Okay. I'm going to go upstairs to take a nice warm bath and try to relax some before bed. Are you coming up soon?"

"I doubt it. I have some work I need to finish, and I'm not sure how long it will take."

"Alright, goodnight," she said with a kiss.

"Goodnight, love." He watched her leave the room the turned to his plate. "Tomorrow will be an interesting day," he said to himself, deciding he wasn't hungry after all. "I just hope that Potter isn't there; I might just kill him."

* * *

The Malfoys arrived with a small _pop_ the following morning for their meeting with Lupin. They walked through the gate and onto the grounds of Hogwarts for the first time since the Final Battle. Nothing had really changed in those fifteen years; the only new thing on the grounds was a memorial that had the names of all those who died during the War on it. Both wanted to stop and remember the ones they had lost, but they both knew this was not the time to do it; after all, they had a meeting to get to.

They walked toward the castle in a comfortable silence, only stopping when they heard someone behind them. There, walking some fifty feet behind them, was none other than Harry and Ginny Potter.

"Should've known you'd be here, Malfoy; after all, it is your _son_ causing all these problems." The Potters kept walking and soon caught up with Draco and Hermione. "You Malfoys are nothing but trouble, aren't you?"

"Well seeing how it is _your_ son staring fights with ours, I think it's clear that it is the _Potters_ that are the trouble makers. After all, his father did break dozens of rules a year, and his grandfather was a Marauder. That would make him a third generation trouble maker, wouldn't it, Potter?" Draco had the trademark Malfoy smirk on his face as he said this. He had forgotten how much fun it was to go at Potter the way he once had.

"You must have forgotten that your wife was with me when I broke most of those rules. Hell, she did most of the research for all my escapades."

"Hey, don't bring me into this!" Hermione knew he was right and that she had done those things, but this was between Draco and Harry, as it always had been.

"Too late; you've been in this from day one." He had her there. "Now, where was I? Ah, right. As for my father, he's not near as bad as yours, Malfoy. Sure, he was a Marauder and a prankster, but that's nothing compared to a Death Eater who killed people because come crazy person told him to. How is he, by-the-way? Heard he's out of Azkaban now. Has he come to you to plot a way to kill me yet?" Harry's hand was close to his wand now. He knew the things he said would piss Malfoy off and he expected to be hexed any moment, but he didn't care.

"You're right, he was a Death Eater, but I wasn't. As for him killing you, I wouldn't know. You see, my father disowned me because he hates that I fought on the Light side. He left me with no money and everyone hating the Malfoy name. I had to wait years to start my company because I had to start from scratch. It took years to get where I am today." Like Harry, Draco's hand was inching toward his wand. He could see this wasn't going to end well.

"Oh, poor Malfoy; he actually had to work to get something for once in his life. Bet it was the worst time in your life, huh, Malfoy? It must have been terrible not having what you want handed to you on a silver platter. Hoping to get everything back now that Daddy is back out in society? Are you hoping he'll give you all your money back, the money you miss so bloody much? That would make everything bet…"

No one ever heard the end of that sentence. Before anyone could even realize what was happening, Draco yelled, "_Expelliarmus!_" The force of the spell knocked Harry ten feet back, where he fell hard to the ground. Draco easily caught his wand and walked toward the fallen wizard.

Hermione and Ginny were both scared. Both wives had been watching the scene unfold before them silently ever since Hermione had stated her wish to stay out of it. They both knew what the two were capable of and that would frighten anyone. They saw Draco stalking toward Harry and knew he could kill him if he chose to.

It was just their luck, however, that Lupin was walking toward them, probably came out to see why his guests hadn't made it to the castle yet. Draco must not have heard him coming though because he was towering over Harry with his wand pointed at the latter's face when Lupin yelled, "Draco, don't!"

Draco didn't care. He was focused on one thing and one thing only: Potter. "You think I want that fucking bastard in my life, my family's lives? That man took everything from me, Potter, and I don't mean money; I could care less about the bloody money! He took something even more valuable to me. That bloody bastard had my mother murdered when he realized taking the money meant nothing to me. She wasn't the best parent in the world, but she loved me and took care of me, which is more than Lucius ever did. She was the only reason to live at times. I loved her a lot, Potter, and he took her away from me. I could care less if he dropped dead right now; I'd just be sad I couldn't do it myself. Don't you dare say that I'm glad he's free again, or that my son or I are anything like him, because we most definitely are not!" Draco's eyes showed nothing but anger and disgust, something which scared those around him.

Hermione, afraid Draco might actually kill Harry, walked over to her husband and placed a hand on his wand hand. He relaxed, barely enough to recognize unless you were looking for it, and looked at her next to him.

"Draco," she said timidly, "Lower your wand, you made your point." He looked back at Potter and lowered his wand, but not fully. "Love, let Harry up. He's disarmed and defenseless; don't prove him right by attacking him now like Lucius would." At this, he lowered his wand, stepped back and handed Hermione Harry's wand.

When Draco had put a few feet between him and Harry, Ginny and Lupin walked over to check Harry and help him up. When he was finally standing on his own two feet again, Hermione handed him back his wand.

"You're lucky, you know. He could've chosen not to just disarm you straight away, which would've been well deserved in my opinion." If it had been Hermione, she would have hit him with a few powerful hexes before disarming him.

"Let's head into the castle, shall we?" They all nodded. "Harry ,do you need to go see Poppy?"

"No, I think I'll be alright," Harry said, wincing a little as he took a step.

The walk from the grounds to the castle was a quiet one as no one wanted to aggravate an already tense situation. "Looks like you all acquired an audience," Lupin said, seeing the crowd of students in the Entrance Hall, Greg and the Potter twins among them. He turned back to the students saying, "Don't you all have classes to be in? Get to them, now. All except you three," he said pointing to Greg, James, and Lily, who were confused as to why they aren't going to class as well. "You three are coming with us; the Headmistress has already excused you from class. Now, if you all will follow me, we'll settle this once and for all."

No one argued as they could all see that Remus was not happy. The students joined their parents and followed the furious professor up to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

When they reached the classroom, Lupin said, "We will be having our meeting in here since all seven of you will not fit into my office. Last one in, please shut the door."

Hermione was the last to enter the room, so it was up to her to shut the door behind her. _Why does it feel as though I'm once again a teenager who got in trouble? Oh yeah, because that is basically what this is, except I'm grown up now, with kids of my own. All that we need now is the Dungeon Bat here, and it will be just like school._ As though he had read her thoughts, Severus Snape opened the recently closed door and stepped into the room. _With that, this flashback nightmare is complete. At least he can't take points away from us- well, he can the kids, but Greg is in his house and is Draco's son to boot; he wouldn't take points away from him…right?_ She suddenly realized there were fingers snapping in front of her face.

"Hermione? Earth to Hermione," Draco said as he tried to get his wife back from wherever her head had been. When she finally came back to the present he asked, "Are you alright? You sort of spaced out for a minute there."

"I'm fine. Sorry about that. I got lost in my thoughts."

"Care to share what was so interesting?"

_Of course Snape would be the one to ask that question._ "I was just thinking about how, once again, I feel like a schoolgirl who is about to be lectured on following the rules. You showing up was the icing on the cake, as you were the main one to find us when we were breaking school rules. At least you can't take points away from us anymore. Why are you here, anyway?"

"Lupin asked me to be here, seeing as your son is in my house."

"Right."

"That being said, can be we get this started please? Yes? Good. Now, I asked you all here today so we can get whatever is between your families settled so that these children can hopefully get through school without fighting like their parents did. I want all excuses of House rivalries to be dropped, considering you are no longer in school."

"We can't pretend that we aren't from the two biggest rival Houses in this school; that won't happen. As for the mutual hatred, I tried to avoid it," Draco said.

He sighed and continued. "Believe it or not, I changed after sixth year; I didn't want to be who I was expected to be anymore. That's when I joined your side. After the war ended, the only one to see the change was Severus, and he allowed me to stay with him for a while.

"When I became reacquainted with Hermione, I was civil, even bought her a drink to show her I wasn't who I used to be. She apparently liked the change, because we've been together for thirteen years now.

"The day we put Greg on the Hogwarts Express, we told him to not be like I was when I was here. I didn't want him to always be in trouble, fighting with people just because he could or any of the other stupid things I did. We specifically told him not to let what happened on the platform that day affect him, even though we both knew it might."

Draco sighed again. "Look, Potter, personally I'm not thrilled with your behavior toward Hermione all those years ago. As the friend you claimed to be, you should have accepted that she needed space and been happy for her when she found someone she wanted to be with. Instead, you Owled her constantly until you heard we were dating, at which time you thought she was completely mad for dating me.

"For the sake of my family, though, I'm willing to call a truce between our families. I'm willing to put aside our differences so that our children don't turn into us. You'll have to work on your friendship with Hermione on your own; I can't speak for her on that. So, what do you say? Truce?" Draco stuck out his hand, hoping Harry would take it.

Harry looked Draco in the eye, trying to find anything showing his statements to be false. What he found in those grey eyes instead was seriousness. It was now or never. "Truce," he said, and shook Draco's hand.

"That's one problem down," Lupin said when Draco and Harry shook hands. He turned to the three eleven year olds. "Now, to the problem between your children. As I know your problem with each other is due to your parents mutual dislike for each other, I will only say this: I do not expect you to be friends but I do expect you three to be civil to one another. Before any of you get the bright idea to use your Houses as a reason to carry on with this nonsense, that won't work, either. Gryffindors and Slytherins may not be the best of friends, but they do have respect for each other, which is how I expect you to behave. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir," they said in unison.

"Good. Severus, anything you wish to add?"

"Yes, actually, there is. I have already dealt with seven years of this Malfoy-Potter crap, and I won't tolerate adding to that; I know the Headmistress won't either. I will say this only once; this ends now! Anything like yesterday ever happens again, and you will be praying we don't expel you. Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir," all three said again.

"Remus, what exactly happened yesterday? All your letter said was that a huge argument broke out over the article in the _Prophet_," Ginny spoke for the first time since her arrival.

"I found these two," Lupin said pointing to Greg and James, "dueling in front of the Great Hall before lunch Monday. It took both Severus and I to get these two separated. I took fifty points from Gryffindor and gave James two weeks of detention with me and a month with Filch. I left Greg's punishment to Severus."

"I took fifty points away as well and gave Mr. Malfoy a month of detention with me. When word reached Minerva, she took an additional fifty points from both and assigned an additional month of detention with Filch."

"So wait," James said, "I got two weeks of detention more than he did. That's not fair!"

"Trust me, son, you worked out better than he did. Take it from someone who spent a lot of time in detention with Snape; you came out on top." James still looked skeptical, so Harry added, "Let's put it this way, those Potions ingredients don't put themselves away."

"I would take his word for it, Mr. Potter; your father has the experience to know what he is talking about."

"I think I'll take your word for it, Dad."

"Now that that is all settled, I think it is time you three headed off to your next class. I'll give you a minute to say goodbye to your parents."

"Bye, Mum. Bye, Dad." Greg knew his parents weren't happy, and didn't want to hear just how angry they were.

"Greg, your father and I are extremely disappointed in you. I can't believe you would do such a thing. If anything like that ever happens again, there will be severe punishments, do you understand me? Seeing as how you have a month of detention with Snape, I don't see you doing something as stupid as that again."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Excellent." She hugged him. "I love you."

"I love you, too." He turned to Draco.

"I think your mother said it all, so all I will say is be good, and I love you."

"I will. I love you too. Bye." With one last wave, he left the classroom.

"Thank you for coming, you four. This needed to stop, and this was the only way to do it."

"You're welcome, Remus. I agree with you; this needed to end. I just wish it hadn't taken Draco nearly killing Harry and a lecture to do it," Hermione said with a sigh.

"Come on, love. We should get you home. All this stress can't be good for you two."

"No, you're right, it's not. Good bye, everyone."

"Good bye, Hermione, Draco," Remus said. He was the only one to do so.

They walked silently back down the moving staircases, through the castle entrance, and down to the front gate. Neither wished to say anything as the day had been trying for both. When they reached the Apparation point, Draco hugged his wife close to him and Apparated them back to the safety of their home.

**A.N.: **Review!


	4. The Visit

**A.N.: Hey everyone. I am incredibly sorry for the like six month, unintenial hiatous. Most everyone knows how life can suddenly go from ok to crap! Well that's what happened. If you are somehow lucky enough to never have that happen to you, you are envied! **

**Okay, so in light of that, I am going to try and get things on a set schedule, but please don't hate me if it doesn't happen. I will TRY to get chapters posted every Thursday or Friday. I plan on writing every weekend and having it sent to my beta, the wonderful Apurva, by Monday so that hopefully I'll have it here by the weekend. There are plenty of places for it to go wrong, so be patient.**

**Last bit, there are about another 3-5 chapters planned. It could go a chapter more than that but I'm really not seeing this go more than ten chapters. That being said, there may be a third one to finish the trilogy, I honestly don't know. I do know that I'm planning on writing a story about Greg's First year at Hogwarts and that will likely be the longest of them all. I will give you guys more info as I write more.**

**Okay, I lied, there's one more thing and then you can get to the reading, but it's important so just read it. This chapter is kind of long, it's about 2,500 words, which is long for my stories. In my rush to get it out so you can know I'm still writing, I've posted the un-betaed version. PLEASE don't leave comments about grammar errors, I know there are at least a few of them. I'll repost this when it is betaed, but as of now, don't be surprised if you run into a mistake. I stink at grammar sometimes, which is why it's beated. Okay, I've rambled enough. On to the chapter.**

**Chapter 4: The Visit**

"Draco. Draco are you home yet?"

Hearing no response, Hermione hung up her coat and walked into the living room, intending on reading her book while waiting for her husband. It was still on the table by the couch, where she left it when she went to bed the previous night. "Oh, Draco, you are home," she said, seeing someone sitting in her husband's chair, facing the fire. "How come you didn't…"she trailed off as the figure stood up and faced her; a figure who was no her husband. "Oh, Merlin!"

"Not quite."

It had been two months since the article in the _Daily Phophet_ stating Lucius' release; two months of worrying if her father-in-law would show up. "Lucius, wh-what are you doing here? How do you know where we live?"

"I have my sources. The better question is, how did you end up a Malfoy?"

"Why do you care? You disinherited Draco."

"I care because a mudblood slut like you should not be married to a pureblood like Draco."

"Well if you must know, Draco loves me, always will. He could care less about you and your pureblood crap. Now, I kindly ask that you leave my house and stay away from my family."

"I'll leave…when you tell me where I can find my traitorous, bastard of a son."

"You'll leave," she said pulling out her wand. "Now!"

"Not without the information I want." He too pulled out his wand. "_Expelliarmus!_" He easily caught the wand and continued. "You can tell me where to find Draco and make this easier on yourself or you can maintain your silence and force me to obtain it. It's your choice."

After a short silence, Lucius said, "Have it your way. _Crucio!_"

Hermione fell rigidly to the ground. Despite the pain, she would not give him the satisfaction of hearing her scream. She only hoped that Draco was working late as she did not want Lucius to get to him.

Lucius lifted the curse a few minutes later. "You can make this end, you know. All you have to do is tell me where to find Draco and I'll end this." He was met with silence. "_Crucio!_"

He held the curse for another few minutes and waited to see if she would break her silence. He repeated the process for almost an hour before giving up; Hermione was barely conscious.

"I will get to Draco, and when I do, he will be sorry he ever betrayed me. For now," he said looking at the mangled body at his feet, "give Draco my love." With a well placed kick to her stomach, Lucius dropped her wand and left, leaving a barely conscious Hermione behind him.

* * *

Draco hoped that Hermione would not be too made that he was late for dinner. One of his contacts had arrived unexpectedly with information on where Lucius might be. According to his contact, Lucius was spotted around London a few days ago. There was nothing concrete on where he was staying, but he was in the area and that was not good.

Draco opened the front door and immediately knew something was wrong; it was too quiet. Hermione's coat was on the rack but there were no lights on, no sign that she was home. Panic quickly took over him and he went in search of his wife, pulling his wand out in the process.

He went to the living room first and what he saw scared him. There, lying on the floor, was his beautiful wife, breathing but unconscious; her wand was a couple of feet away from her.

He ran over to her, fell to his knees, and tried to wake her up. "Hermione. Hermione, please wake up. Hermione!"

When she didn't respond, he picked her up and apparated to St. Mungo's. "Someone please help me!"

The nurse at the reception desk ran over calling for a healer as she did. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure. I got home from work and found her on the floor. Please help her. The baby! She's pregnant. Please, don't let the baby die; don't let either of them die!" Draco didn't care that he was crying in public, this was his wife and unborn baby he was concerned about.

The healers had arrived and were trying to take Hermione, who was still in Draco's arms. "Sir, we need you to let go of your wife so we can examine her."

Draco did as he was told and let go of his wife. He watched as they ran with her toward the emergency ward. He moved over to a seat in the waiting room, hoping he made it in time.

_Who knows how long I'll be here, waiting for someone to tell me how she is…how _they_ are. I can't do this alone. I need someone here with me, but who? Greg! I need Greg! Now how to get him here. I can't go get him; there is no way I am leaving here. Hmm…Severus! I'll get Severus to bring him. He's Greg's Head of House, plus I could really use him here with me. It's settled. I'll Floo Severus and have him bring Greg here._

* * *

Draco was found in the waiting room with his head in his hands half an hour later by his twelve year old son and Hogwart's snarky Potions Master. He hadn't moved from this position since he ended the fire call with Severus.

"Dad," Greg said, walking up to his father, "what's going on? Professor Snape didn't tell me anything. He just came into the common room and told me to come with him and brought me here. Is Mum okay?"

Draco pulled his son into a hug, trying to figure out how to tell his son what happened; not that he knew much in the first place.

He pulled back and looked at Greg. "Son, I'm not really sure what happened. I came home from work and found your mother on the living room floor, unconscious but breathing. I brought her here but no one has told me anything."

"Dad, will she be okay? Please tell me she will be okay."

"I don't know, I just don't know." Draco pulled his now sobbing son into a hug, hold on to him tight.

They sat in that embrace for a few moments; taking in the much needed comfort the other gave. It was only then they remembered there was another with them.

"Greg, why don't you sit here while I talk to Professor Snape for a few moments."

"Okay."

When Draco and Severus were far enough away, Severus asked, "Do you have any idea on what might have happened?"

"No, nothing seemed out of place when I got home. I didn't know anything was wrong until I saw her."

"I want to look at your memory when you found her. I might see something you didn't."

"Okay."

"_Legilimens!_" Severus watched as Draco walked into his house. Everything seemed to be in its proper place, no sign of struggle, other than Hermione sprawled out on the living room floor. Her wand was a few feet from her, on the left side not her right, which made him think she didn't just drop it. He looked around the living room. He saw a glass on the table between the chair and the couch. Other than that, everything looked as it should.

He pulled out of Draco's mind. He had an idea about what could've happened but couldn't be sure until the Healers told them what they found.

"Draco, has anyone made any threats against Hermione? Is there anyone you know of that might want to hurt her?"

Draco thought for a moment. There was no one that had threatened his wife that he knew of at least. They kept to themselves and hadn't seen anyone recently. _Well there was the Potters, but they wouldn't try to kill her. I can't even remember the last time she was even worried about anyone. Except, _"Lucius," he whispered.

"Lucius? Has he threatened Hermione?" Severus knew if Lucius had made a threat against her, that it was only a matter of time before he made his move. From what he saw in Draco's mind, the attack on Hermione very well could have been the work of his former friend.

"As far as I know, no he hasn't. That doesn't mean that he isn't responsible for what happened tonight. The more I think about it, the more I believe it was him; it fits his style: surprise, attack, disarm, and torture until he gets the answers he wants or the victim passes out. We all know how disappointed in me he was when I fought for the Light in the Final Battle; he went as far as killing my mother from Azkaban to get back at me. Going after my wife now that he's been released seems like a reasonable step in his mind.

"I swear Sev, if she dies, and he is responsible, I will kill him. He has already taken one important woman from my life, if he takes the other, I'm not sure I'll make it."

"You will do no such thing! Look at your son," he ordered; turning to look at the youngest Malfoy, "he needs his father. You don't want him growing up with his father in Azkaban do you?"

Draco shook his head. As much as he would want Lucius died, he could not leave his son alone.

"Good. Without godparents, Greg would likely be placed with the Lupins, as Nymphadora is his cousin, and I could only imagine how that would go over."

Draco looked at Severus, not exactly sure how to say what needed to be said. _Better just say it straight._ "Sev, you know I've always thought of you as an uncle, right?"

"Yes. I tried to be there for you as much as possible, being your godfather and all."

"Well when Greg was born, Hermione and I tried to think of who we would want taking care of him if anything should happen to us. The list wasn't very long; Hermione couldn't think of anyone due to her feud with all her former friends. As for me, no one talks to me anymore, except for you. With that in mind, we both decided to name you Greg's godfather."

"You…named me Gregory's godfather?" He was shocked.

"Yes. You were really the only one we could think of that not only knew of our marriage, but would actually take care of him without much problem."

Severus was surprised to say the least. It was true, he was really the only one who knew they had wed, but he stopped contact about a year afterwards. He didn't even know they had a son until Greg entered the Great Hall at the beginning of the year. He had watched the boy, making sure he stayed out of trouble. He was starting to get to know him too. Greg had started coming to his office to ask questions about what his parents were like in school. It was like Draco growing up all over again, minus the pureblood attitude and lifestyle.

The more Draco's news played through his head, the more he realized how happy it made him. Before now, he didn't have much to be happy about. Now…now he could really get to know Greg, take him out, and spoil him like he had Draco.

"Thank you. I'm honored."

"I'm glad to hear that Sev, I really am."

They both moved to sit next to Greg, knowing it could be awhile until they were told anything about Hermione.

* * *

It had been about two hours since Draco and Severus had sat down. Greg was now curled up in his chair with his head on Draco's shoulder. Draco slumped in his chair, looking about as tired as he felt. Severus, well Severus sat with his arms crossed across his chest, legs crossed out at the ankles, and had frustration, impatience, and boredom (if you looked hard enough) written across his face.

It was getting late and Draco was about to tell Severus to take Greg back to Hogwarts when the Healer walked into the waiting room. "Mr. Malfoy?" Draco stood up and the Healer walked over to him. "Mr. Malfoy, you wife suffered serious damage for the Cruicatus Curse and a kick to her stomach. We did all we could to stop the tremors from the curse and the internal bleeding, but she had already lost a lot of blood when she arrived. We were able to stop the tremors and gave her Blood Replenishing potions, but she is still very weak. I am sorry to say this, Mr. Malfoy, but your wife had a miscarriage due to her injuries. I am sorry for your loss."

"She…she lost the baby?" Draco's eyes started to water. _I won't cry. I can't cry. Hermione will need me. I must stay strong._ That didn't stop a lone tear from sliding down his face. "When can I see her?"

"We gave her a Dreamless Sleep potion to help her heal, but she should be awake in the morning."

"Can I stay with her tonight? I want to be with her when she wakes up." Draco pleaded.

"Yes, I guess that would be alright, but only you. The others will have to leave and come back in the morning."

"Okay," Draco said to the Healer. He turned to his godfather and son. "Sev, will you take Greg back to Hogwarts with you?"

Severus nodded and spoke, "He can stay in my rooms tonight, I think he'll be more comfortable there after all this. I'll bring him back after breakfast tomorrow."

"Thanks, Sev." He turned to wake up his son. "Greg, you're going to go back to Hogwarts with Sev and he'll bring you back tomorrow to see your Mum. Okay?"

"Okay, Dad." Greg stood up, stretching. "I love you."

"I love you too, son. See you in the morning." Draco watched his son and Severus leave and then turned back to the Healer.

"I'll show you up to your wife's room," the Healer said, turning toward the elevators.

"Thank you." Draco followed the man to the elevators. _This will be the longest weekend of my life._

**A.N.: As a please don't hate me gift, I'll give you guys what is planned for the next chapter (it is subject to change, though I doubt it will):**

**Potters and Malfoys have a little chat...good? bad? We'll see. **

**Draco, Sev, Greg, and a surprise someone(s) get told what happened to Hermione**

**I will try to have this up by next weekend, and get on a schedule of posts. Hopefully it will work.**

**As always, read and review.**


	5. The Interlude

**A.N.:** I'm going to try and make this note short. I want to apologize for this taking so long. Anyone in college knows that things can get crazy, well it has for me. I will try to get this finished by summer, but I'm not going to promise like I did last time.

I'm still looking for a beta if anyone is interested. Since I don't have one, bare with me on the grammar/person/tense mistakes you might find.

This gives a little background of Draco's POV from a few things in the series. I wrote this little interlude during a play rehearsal in hopes to at least get something. Sorry it is so short.

**Chapter 5: The Interlude**

*6 months after Final Battle*

_Uncle Sev,_

_How have you been Sev? I miss seeing you. It is so lonely around the manor; Mother leaves the country every weekend it seems. I think she leaves just so she can get away from the manor. Ever since the end of the war, when Father was sent to Azkaban (not that he didn't deserve it), she doesn't like spending much time in the manor. I don't blame her, this place reeks of Father._

_I have some news for you of Lucius. It seems we were correct in how he would take my change to the Light. I got a letter from Father informing me that I have been disowned. How he managed that from Azkaban I have no idea. Truth be told, I honestly don't care. I don't want to be associated with the things he did and represented. I still have Mother. That is all that matters to me._

_I have been thinking about the idea of starting my own business. I want something that is my own. I want to show people that I'm not some evil person like my father. I'm not sure about what kind of business it will be, but whatever it is, it will be mine; something that people will remember me by. I promise to inform you once I've decided._

_I miss you around here Uncle Sev._

_Your godson,_

_Draco

* * *

_

*3 months later*

_Sev,_

_She is dead! Mother is dead! Some…man…killed her while I was out._

_It was him! Lucius is responsible for this! I just know he is!_

_Please say you will come to her funeral. I need you here for me._

_I don't know what to do without her. I miss her already. I just don't know what to do._

_Draco

* * *

_

*one week after visiting Hogwarts*

_Sev,_

_How could you not tell me that you were back? I have missed talking to you for so long! When did you come back? Why did you come back? How have you been?_

_Hermione and I have been good. Things are going good here. The company is doing well. Thanks again for helping me out with that._

_How is Greg doing since we were there last week? I can't believe he did that. I know that I had my fights with Potter in school, but I told him how I acted and to not act like that. We raised him better than that. I hope that lecture from you and Lupin helps remind him how to behave. I don't know about the Potters, but it sure made me feel like a student being lectured by the "Snarky Dungeon Bat" once again._

_Well, don't be a stranger Uncle Sev; we miss you around here._

_Your godson,_

_Draco

* * *

_

**References:** Here is where you can find things that were referenced in this chapter. Draco being disowned and his mother's death: The Unexpected ch. 4; Snape and Draco disappearing (to the manor, though that's not said anywhere), and Snape leaving after Draco's wedding: ch. 1 of this story; Draco's company and the Hogwarts visit: ch. 3 of this story.

**A.N.:** r &r. take the poll on my profile please.


End file.
